A Sunni jihadist group claimed responsibility for what officials described as a deadly suicide bomb attack on a bus carrying Revolutionary Guard personnel in Iran’s lawless southeast.
In a statement published on its Telegram channel, Jeish al-Adl, or the army of justice, said it had carried out the attack, which Iranian media said killed at least 20 people and injured 20 more.
Video footage taken in the aftermath of the bombing showed debris and splotches of what appeared to be blood along a remote desert roadway.
The attack will likely raise tensions between Tehran and regional rivals it accuses of backing militant groups along its borders. A statement issued by the Revolutionary Guards described the perpetrators of the attack as “terrorists and mercenaries of the intelligence services of hegemonic powers."
Iranian state media said the bombing took place near the village of Chanali, on the outskirts of the remote city of Zahedan, a desert crossroads that lies near borders with both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The region is known as a crossroads for narcotics trafficking gangs and jihadi networks sometimes rooted in local tribes. It is also at the heart of homeland for ethnic Baluchis who live in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan and have been pining for cultural and political rights.
Violence between Iranian security forces, including the Revolutionary Guard and border personnel, and various traffickers and militant groups along the southwest border is common. Jeish al-Adl carried out a 2017 ambush which killed nine Iranian border guards on patrol.
The group was formed in 2012 out of remnants of Jundollah, or soldiers of God, another militant group whose leaders were captured by Iran while on a flight from the United Arab Emirates, part of the alliance of anti-Tehran countries.
The scale of Wednesday’s attack, and its coinciding with Middle East summit in Warsaw perceived in Tehran as an anti-Iran gathering, may prompt Iran to respond.
A multi-pronged attack last year on a military parade in Iran’s southwest left scores dead and wounded and raised tensions between Tehran and Europe, which was accused of harbouring a group first thought behind the violence.
Days after the attack, security forces in Denmark foiled what they would later describe as an attempted Iranian-backed plot targeting the Iranian Arab exile group some believed was behind the ambush on the parade. Tehran has denied the allegations.
